1.7 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed into neighbouring countries in the space of 11 days, the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said.
Nearly three-fifths of the total, nearly 1.03 million, arrived in Poland, according to the agency. Over 180,000 went to Hungary and 128,000 to Slovakia.
Grandi stressed that wide international assistance is needed for Poland and other countries receiving refugees from Ukraine.
He said that “predictions are difficult, hundreds of thousands are on the move inside Ukraine, and it is very likely that we will see a large influx continuing in the next few days.”
Grandi said that “what is needed really is a ceasefire, is the end to hostilities because that’s the only way to stop this tragedy.”
In Montpellier, France, EU foreign affairs policy chief Josep Borrell called on mobilising “all the resources” of the bloc of 27 nations to help countries welcoming refugees from Ukraine, including neighboring Poland and Romania. Borrell spoke ahead of a meeting of development ministers of the EU.
Ukraine said on Monday a Russian proposal on humanitarian corridors was “completely immoral” after Moscow suggested it would allow people to flee Ukrainian cities provided they exited to Belarus or Russia.
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A spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian citizens should be allowed to leave their homes through Ukrainian territory, and accused Russia of deliberately hampering previous evacuation attempts.
“This is a completely immoral story. People’s suffering is used to create the desired television picture,” the spokesman said in a written message. “These are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine.”
Western allies have imposed unprecedented sanctions against businesses, banks, and billionaires in a bid to choke the Russian economy and pressure Moscow to halt its assault.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin has equated global sanctions with a declaration of war and warned that Kyiv is “putting in question the future of Ukrainian statehood” by continuing to resist.
Kremlin says Russia’s military action in Ukraine could be halted “only if Kyiv ceases hostilities and fulfills the well-known demands of Russia.”
Putin has listed “demilitarisation” and “denazification” of Ukraine, recognition of Russian-annexed Crimea as part of Russia and separatist regions in eastern Ukraine as independent states as the Kremlin’s main demands.
Ceasefire talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials began on the Belarusian border on Monday as Russia faces deepening economic isolation.
(With inputs from agencies)
